Hi,
My name is Lisa and my son Joshua is 4 1/2 yrs old and has CP,
Hydrocephalus, CVI, and profound cognitive delays.

We have been working on strengthening his trunk, stablizing his hips,
and moving on to solid foods.

He has been nibbling on graham crackers for a few months now, but
recently started eating whole ones and eating some other crunchy
items. Loves the 100 cal bags of the oreo cookies (not as messy as the
real oreos). He also is improving on sipping from a straw, but still
doesn't like it. We got caught out and about without a sippy and he
had to use the one-way flow straw --- and he did!

Found a therapeutic riding center 10 min from home and have been trying
to attend 2x/week (weather/stomach bugs have been intefering). Hoping
it keeps his hips from subluxing further.

Got new Cascade AFOs through Duke PT and were given Step 2 shoes with
them (I was surprised!) Seem to be working out well.

We're spending the entire summer in Las Vegas and I found a riding
center there with availability. So, we'll at least have that if we
can't get set up with anything else.

He's on the AMBUCS National Wish List to get an adaptive tricycle --
very excited about that.

He had first round of Botox in Jan and goes in for second at end of
May. Just got a Rhino brace that I hope will help get added benefits
form the second round of botox.

Besides the occasional stomach bug, he's been very healthy. I feel
bad, but I'm always relieved when his sisters get sick when he is sick
because then I feel pretty confident that his sickness is just a virus
and not his shunt failing. Duke Ped Neurosurgery did an excellent job
with his shunt revision in Mar 2005 and no problems since.

Haven't made any progress on establishing a form of communication, but
he definitely has been expressing his opinion lately! Wanted to play
at Sonic one day instead of sit/eat and he knocked my glasses off
flailing around. Good thing he's only 29 lbs right now.

Oh, that's another great thing -- since he started preschool this year
and has had the extra snack fit into his day he has gained 4-5 lbs!

Looking forward to your news,
Lisa
in NC



--- In cerebralpalsy@yahoogroups.com, cerebralpalsy@yahoogroups.com
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